Governor Mike Huckabee On Running

Overweight and at-risk, this politician laced up a pair of running shoes -- and left his health problems in the dust.

Philip Kern, M.D., director of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences weight-control program, initially restricted his client to meal-replacement shakes, a diet of 800 calories a day, plus unlimited vegetables. The shake, made by Health One, has 75 grams of protein, 110 grams of carbohydrate, 10 grams of fiber, plus vitamins and minerals. It was effective. "His health improved significantly," Dr. Kern says.

After three months, Huckabee was allowed to eat a balanced diet of 1,600 calories, and when he'd dropped 40 pounds, he was cleared to start walking. "One day I was out and thought, This isn't going fast enough," he says. "I thought, I'm going to run from here to the end of the fence just to see if I can do it. And I did. It was like Forrest Gump with the braces coming off."

He ran more in the ensuing days, first one lap, followed by a lap of walking, then two laps running and one walking. After four months he could run four miles. Eventually, he was running off-site up to 10 miles at a time, often solo and armed only with a can of pepper spray. Soon he was seeing his tailor for alterations.

"Everyone in this office has been inspired by the governor," says his assistant, Dawn Cook, who has lost 15 pounds.

Race entries for this year's Little Rock Marathon on March 6 were up 30 percent, a surge that race director Geneva Hampton attributed to Huckabee's quest to run the 26-miler. Strangers from as far away as Madrid have e-mailed the governor to tell him how good they feel having followed his lead. Little Rock's running store Easy Runner has enjoyed a spike in female customers. "There are more women getting into the sport, having seen the governor running," says Easy Runner owner Gary Smith, who used to sell kicks to Bill Clinton.

Huckabee's metamorphosis has been good public policy, too, becoming the de facto centerpiece of his Healthy Arkansas initiative. Although Texas was recently pronounced the fattest state in the union, Arkansas has little to crow about: According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in four Arkansans smoke; almost as many are obese. Thanks to Huckabee, state employees now get walking breaks in lieu of smoking breaks. It's a start.

"For me it's a crusade of a larger nature," says Huckabee, who was a minister in Texarkana before entering politics. "I didn't want to be one of those obnoxious reformed people. I'm just a beggar telling other beggars how to find bread – whole grain, of course. I'm someone who did it wrong for 47 years, digging my grave with a knife and fork."

One of his doctors suggested he run the Firecracker 5-K last summer, and while giving a speech on diabetes, Huckabee let slip that he was considering it. A reporter wrote as much and, says Huckabee, "The accountability was on." He filled out his entry hoping to avoid "a Jimmy Carter moment," a running-induced fainting spell, and even after training with Hampton, he approached the Firecracker like it was a live M-80. "I was totally scared," he says. "I didn't even know where to put the number. I'd read books, and they said if you're slow, don't get out front because people will be mad at you. So I got too far back. I shuffled for the first two blocks like, Get out of my stinkin' way!"

Huckabee finished in 28 minutes, 39 seconds. The next day's story shared space with that of a skinny Japanese man breaking a hot dog-eating record.

Huckabee's thoughts sometimes turn to cheesecake, but he preempts most cravings by avoiding sugar entirely, flavoring his coffee with Splenda. A friend recently told him that, "No food tastes as good as it feels to be thin," and Huckabee is certainly that.

"I've been to a lot of events," says Statehouse spokesman Jim Harris, "where people come up to me and say, 'Where's the governor?' 'Well, he just walked right past you.' That's happened even to people who were in his church."

Mistaken identity notwithstanding, there was no way to hide as Huckabee slimmed down and ran all over Arkansas. Being in the public eye helped the self-described "foodaholic" stay motivated. He enjoyed other rare advantages, mostly in his large cadre of supportive friends, family, and employees.

"The mansion chefs are allowed to serve fatty foods – French cooking, sugary desserts – at what I call mansion events," he says. "But if I'm hosting people for lunch, I insist we have healthy food. We have sugar-free desserts, typically fresh fruit."